Spectacularly successful sci fi drama dealing with big issues

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2008)

I think we should call Michael Bay 'Docking' Bay, as he docked this one so successfully. This really is an achievement of the first order. It isn't that easy to make a good big budget sci fi film in the first place, but to make one which isn't just entertainment but also has important things to say, and actually says them successfully, is really something! This film features a wonderful performance by Ewan McGregor, who excels himself (or himselves). Scarlett Johanson as the girl does really well, but there is less for her to do, and so she could have been another actress. Naturally, we all like looking at Scarlett Johansson, so that's OK then. Sean Bean does a brilliant job as the creepy doctor. This film lifts every hair on the back of your neck, and it might take them a long time to settle back again. (It might be possible to sue for back-of-neck-baldness. But it would have to be a class action, as there must be so many victims.) The story is so carefully crafted and well-executed, that is works as well as could be imagined. The scenes where large groups stand around in ecstasy waiting to win the lottery to go to the island are a serious social comment on today's society, where we have all been reduced to passive viewers who hope to win something, but are not prepared to go out and get it. Well, Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson are prepared to go out and get plenty, and this film moves right along, and gets tenser and tenser and tenser and tenser, and really you think the celluloid has got to break soon, or your DVD will blow up your set. Don't watch it to relax, and drink your beer before it starts, because if you are holding a can, it will be bound to be crushed and you won't even know you've done it. That is, if you're one of those. Or even if you're not. - Be ready! The Island beckons. Can you meet the challenge?